Parquet finish

[tommcfall]

Good morning.
I'm looking for a little advice. I have just fitted a parquet floor and really like how rough it looks. Some blocks are varnished, some aren't, some are discoloured etc. It looks great (to me) when I clean it with a damp cloth and I'd love it to just look like that but I'm unsure what to finish it with. I've tried lots of varnishes and they all just look a bit plastic. I gather from reading that I can't use hard wax oil as many of the blocks are varnished and I don't want to really sand it back and lose how it looks. Whats a good option and is there a way of recreating how rich it looks when it's wet?

(obviously I haven't finished filling gaps and this aesthetic is probably not to anyone else's taste; don't judge me internet!)

Thanks!

Tom

 

[C.J.]

That looks really nice! Not sure what you could finish it with that wouldn’t require sanding first for proper adhesion.

 

[tommcfall]

Thanks CJ. Do you know a way of recreating that depth of colour that it has when it’s wet without it looking really glossy?

 

[C.J.]

Either finish or oil will give it that look. Satin finish isn’t glossy.

 

[tommcfall]

Thanks! Is there an oil brand you’d recommend?

 

[C.J.]

Rubio monocoat is the bees knees when it comes to an oil finish. One coat application. Wipe it on, wipe it off and keep wiping it off. No lap lines, nuthin! It’s about as easy as it gets. You gotta sand your floor though.

 

[Mark Brown]

Seeing the look that we are trying to obtain, just oil and see what happens. Worse thing that could happen is it does not take.
I can see you are not looking to obtain a "factory finish" here so why not experiment??

I would try the section that is most finished looking first and go from there.

 

[C.J.]

Seeing the look that we are trying to obtain, just oil and see what happens. Worse thing that could happen is it does not take.
I can see you are not looking to obtain a "factory finish" here so why not experiment??

I would try the section that is most finished looking first and go from there.

Good point. Rubio only bonds to wood so if it doesn’t bond you’ll just end up wiping it back up.

 

[Mark Brown]

I like the Rubio call though. It is a good product.
I also don't think this fellow is crazy, that parquet all beat up like that would be sad to lose. My floors have a patina..... but nothing someone would willing want to keep.

 

[C.J.]

I haven’t even sanded my floors yet. That’s how much I like the beat up look.

 

[Incognito]

Patina---Schmatina

Sand that floor down and refinish properly and it will be absolutely beautiful. That's a nice wood floor and just needs a professional sand/refinish job.

 

[highup]

I haven’t even sanded my floors yet. That’s how much I like the beat up look.

I'm wondering what would happen if you took a flooring buffer with a mildest screen and lately went over the entire floor just to Scuff the finish.
I'm not talking a sanding screen like sandpaper. Just the abrasive pads that you can use with a floor buffer. I think white has zero abrasive in it and black is probably the most abrasive.
If the floor was very lightly a braided to accept some sort of finish, you'd have a place to start. You definitely wouldn't want to glossy finish. You are looking for a rat rod finish for your floor.
Rat rod like Warbird from Australia.
To me this is an epic patina finish.
.....
Somehow to me it's unbelievably beautiful. Your mileage may vary.....
But probably a lot better than this one.